Southport Senior Colts blanked 12-0 by Burnage

SUFFERING from injuries to key players, Southport travelled to the South Manchester club with the bare 15.

Anticipating the controversial ‘3G’ pitch, which was in use, the Colts were somewhat dumfounded at the state of the arena they took to, which was little short of a quagmire.

The conditions were atrocious, and neither the rain nor freezing temperatures aided the Colts’ quest to bolster their league position.

The match started off fairly evenly, with both sides having a share of the possession.

The home team seemed to have the edge in the close contact zone, as their strong mauling warranted good yards up the field. Nevertheless, Southport had the early opportunity to take the lead with a penalty which McMullen narrowly missed, unsurprising in treacherous conditions.

Burnage eventually capitalised on some poor Southport defence by exploiting the overlap to take the lead with an unconverted try. It stayed 5-0 until the half-time period.

The weather did not relent in the second period, and to their credit, both teams battled on despite being titivated in mud.

Southport had the brighter start, yet were unable to capitalise on their time in the Burnage 22.

Jack Parker, returning from his foray in rugby league, had a solid game at blindside flanker, and was one of the many boisterous forwards that were involved in the standard kerfuffle between the packs.

It was, however the openside flanker, Caldwell, who was rescinded for his actions.

Southport weathered the storm with 14 men for 10 minutes, when, despite the reinstating of Caldwell, Burnage added a second try after a Southport handling error, which proved to be the decisive score. Port kept at the home side, yet could not find their way through. It was an unfortunate loss that has stalled the hopes of climbing in the league.